Rivalry theme in the Outsiders
Rivalry is a major theme expressed in The Outsiders written by S.E. Hinton. In this blog, I will be talking about the intense rivalry between the Greasers and the Socs.
The conflict between Socs and Greasers is introduced in Chapter 1 and intensifies throughout the book. The Greasers are the working class kids and the Socs are the wealthy kids. They are always fighting each other in fights called rumbles. They are not fighting for any particular reason other than the fact that they have been fighting for so long that they have to get back at each other for the last fight. So there is always a new reason to fight. As said in Chapter 1, “A rumble, when it's called, is usually born of a grudge fight, and the opponents just happen to bring their friends along.” Ponyboy explains that the greasers, who wear their long greasy hair and usually dress in t-shirts and jeans, often get into trouble by stealing things from supermarkets or wrecking houses. “They are not usually real criminals though. They are just poor kids who are standing up for each other.”
The rivalry between Socs and Greasers is a negative theme. Right from chapter 1, he is jumped by the Socs for no reason. From this point forward, one pointless act of violence is followed by another. After the Socs see Johnny and Pony talking to some of their girlfriends, they vow revenge. They follow the two Greasers and jump them in the park. In the fight that follows, Johnny stabs and kills Bob in self-defense. Then Pony and Johnny go to Windrixville for hiding. When their hide-out catches on fire, Johnny is seriously wounded while trying to rescue some children trapped inside. Pony, Johnny, and Dally are all taken to the hospital, but Pony is quickly released, and Dally escapes. The two of them participate in the rumble that has been scheduled between the Socs and the Greasers. Because the Greasers get help from the Brumly gang, they easily defeat the Socs. Johnny soon dies as a result of his severe burns and his broken back. Dally goes absolutely nuts in response to his death; he leaves the hospital, robs a store, and points his unloaded gun at the police. He is then shot to death in front of his friends. All of this proves that the rivalry has caused damage to both the Socs and the Greasers. This is perhaps one of the things they have in common.
Because of gang rivalry, many characters have lost their life in The Outsiders. First, Bob loses his life when he and Randy were trying to attack Johnny and Pony boy. That event put Randy into a kind of depression thus prompting him to think about his actions which resulted him to not fight in the next rumble. Then Ponyboy and Johnny go to Windrixville and stayed in a church for the night. The next day, the church go on fire and Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally rescued the children from the church. Although Ponyboy and Dally suffered from minor injuries, Johnny got severe burns and got a back fracture because a wood log fell onto his back while rescuing the children. Johnny eventually succumbed to his injuries and died. This put Dally into a state of mental havoc and eventually getting killed but the cops. Ponyboy then fainted at the sight of blood and suffered from a minor concussion. This proves that when somebody died, it affected the next character both mentally and physically.
The rivalry between Socs and Greasers is a negative theme. Right from chapter 1, he is jumped by the Socs for no reason. From this point forward, one pointless act of violence is followed by another. After the Socs see Johnny and Pony talking to some of their girlfriends, they vow revenge. They follow the two Greasers and jump them in the park. In the fight that follows, Johnny stabs and kills Bob in self-defense. Then Pony and Johnny go to Windrixville for hiding. When their hide-out catches on fire, Johnny is seriously wounded while trying to rescue some children trapped inside. Pony, Johnny, and Dally are all taken to the hospital, but Pony is quickly released, and Dally escapes. The two of them participate in the rumble that has been scheduled between the Socs and the Greasers. Because the Greasers get help from the Brumly gang, they easily defeat the Socs. Johnny soon dies as a result of his severe burns and his broken back. Dally goes absolutely nuts in response to his death; he leaves the hospital, robs a store, and points his unloaded gun at the police. He is then shot to death in front of his friends. All of this proves that the rivalry has caused damage to both the Socs and the Greasers. This is perhaps one of the things they have in common.
Because of gang rivalry, many characters have lost their life in The Outsiders. First, Bob loses his life when he and Randy were trying to attack Johnny and Pony boy. That event put Randy into a kind of depression thus prompting him to think about his actions which resulted him to not fight in the next rumble. Then Ponyboy and Johnny go to Windrixville and stayed in a church for the night. The next day, the church go on fire and Ponyboy, Johnny and Dally rescued the children from the church. Although Ponyboy and Dally suffered from minor injuries, Johnny got severe burns and got a back fracture because a wood log fell onto his back while rescuing the children. Johnny eventually succumbed to his injuries and died. This put Dally into a state of mental havoc and eventually getting killed but the cops. Ponyboy then fainted at the sight of blood and suffered from a minor concussion. This proves that when somebody died, it affected the next character both mentally and physically.
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